Railway-mail-delivery apparatus



Julie 7, 1927..

H. A. WRIGHT RAILWAY MAIL DELIVERY APPARATUS Filed Feb. is. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 7; 1927.- 1,631,238

H. A. WRIGHT RAILWAY MAIL DELIVERY APPARATUS Filed Feb. 19, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 .64 11 ref Patented June 7, 1927. v i [TED HENRY A. WRIGHT, OFQHALPSQTENNESSEE.

BAILWAYMAm-DELWER tA BABA Applicationvfiled February 19,31,926. v.Serialllo; 8 9,394.

This inventionrelat'es to apparatus for et- ,within the car adjacent each side of the door- Vfectingtdeliveryof ,niailand the like 'to and .way or, opening 6. i The lower ends ofthe from .movingrailway cars. posts 7,..arepreferably fixed to brackets 8 The primary object. of the: invention is to awhich are; bolted to the floor of th a a d (so mprovide aumail delivery apparatus of the the upper ends ofthe posts are preferably above vkind which is extremely simple and fixed in brackets 9 bolted to the ceiling of the durablein construction as well as efiicient in carasshown. operation. "Pivotally, mounted for horizontal swing- A further-object of the present invention .ingv movement upon each of the uprights or 65 in is toprovide a maildelivery apparatus of the posts 7 is a pair of .angular. mail delivering above .kindi by means of which thedesired land. receiving arms 10 which arearranged in transfer of mail may be effected without spaced super-imposed relation and have .danger of damaging themailbags, or..losing "forks 11 rigid withtheir free. ends. Each the contents thereof during thet-ransferring arm may be provided ,atitsinner end with W eration, a hub 12 journaled upon the associated .post

Stillanotherobject 03f theinventionis to ,7 .between a pair of collars '13 which are se- -provide means tor-supporting the mail bags .cu-red on the post in proper spaced relation for delivery to or from a moving railway bygmeans of set screws 14 or the like. The car .in such n'iannerthat accidental 'displacearms- 10 are thus mounted for. horizontal 2O mentof the mail-bags'from their properpo- ,,swingingmovement, so .as, to. be capable, of sition tor-delivery is rendered unlikely. .unoving vto aposition within the car through ,Other objectsv wilhappearas thenature of the,dooropeningas illustrated with respect vtheainventionv isxbett-er understood, andthe toone of the arms in Figures 1 and 2, or posame consists in the novel form, combination sitioned outside of .thecar as illustrated with ,and arrangement, of parts hereinafter. more respect to the'remaining arms in said figures. fully described, shown. in the accompanying" Eoriacilitathag the swinging of the arms 10. d i d l i d the hubs12, of the, latter ,may, be, provided IIuthe drawings wherein like reference ,with rigidihandleslfi. which are in convencharacters .,..indicate ,corr.esponding .iparts ientreachof themaihcar,attendant. By iea- 0 throughout .thesevera-l views: .sonofthe angular. form of the arms and Fi ure l-is a. fragmentary side ele ational ithemanne o m t g.t es e ,upo t e .view illustrating a railwayniail delivery apnposts or. uprights 7, said arms willbe disparatus constructed: in accordance, with-f the v.posedto project outwardly through the door ,present. invention, and showing theyarious opening andlthen longitudinally of the car M 1 ,t b V ,.partsaelated.as:.tl1ey...would be immediately,coutsideof thelatter when the arms are n at'ter amailbaghasbeen deli-veredjfron a...the1r outwardlyswung position, the pairvof .niail carnan'd. anOtl11..111tUl..:bELg delivered .-ar1ns ..at.on side of th P6I11l\g.PF ]ClJ1I1g thel'eto, away-from the-arms at the other side of the FigureiZ 1s ahorizontal'section takensub- .tlooropen ngas shown. 95 40 stantiallyuponline2e2ofEigure 1. Tlhe torksll areofslml ar form, andr a h Eigure 3;-is.anzenlargedtopplan viewfof ,.e1nbodies a, plurality of laterally resilient .one of the swinging mail deliveringand'reprongs; theoutenor end ones of which are ceiving armsnnonntedin.theniaillcar. longeriandjhave their fr end t L DQ l,

Figure 4 is asectional.viewtaken substanhand the inner or remaining ones of which ,tiallyaipondine 4:& of Figure-3 have enlarged free end portions 16 v which Figure 5 is a transverse sectiontaken sub-Mare ,taperedattheir sidesin opposite direc- -stantially upon line 55- ofF igure 4; tions. for purposes which will presently be Figure 6 is a transverse section..taken,subl11.dd8 apparent. .sta'ntially uponline 6-...6 of Figure, 5,. and The invention furthercontemplates a pair 105 I Figure 7 is aahorizontal, fragmentary. sec-,, of forks '17 adapted to be suitably or rigidly ,tionta'lrenonaline 7% 7.0f Figure 1. Hsupported beside the.railway track so as to Reterringmore in detail tothedr-awings,"face away from each other in opposite di- 5.,indicates a conventional ,fQI'InjOfIailWay .rections and to lie inthe same vertical longi- :mailcar having aside doorway or opening. ,t udinal and horizontalplanes. The forks-17 110 o andpin accordance with it-hepresentinvenare also supported in a horizontal plane be- .tion, an upright-post 'iisi rigidlymounted tween, the, horizontal planes in which the arms 10 or each pair are supported so that the forks 11 of the arms 10 will respectively pass above and below the forks 17 when the arms are in their outwardly swung position and the car passes the point at which the forks 17 are mounted.

a horizontal bar 18 which has an'outwardly and laterally offset intermediate portion rigidly secured to the upper ends of a pair of upright posts 19 suitably rigidly mounted beside the railway track. The posts 19 may be braced by a horizontal connecting bar 20 whose ends are rigidly secured to the posts 5 at a point below their upper ends. By offsetting the bar 18, the posts 19 may be positioned in sufficiently spaced relation to the car to permit the free passage of the arms 10 and their forks 11 without striking said post 19 as will be clearly apparent upon observing Figure 2.

A further pair of forks 17 are supported beside the railway track below the forks 17 and so as to face away from each other. The forks 17 are rigidly formed upon the ends of a bar 18 which is jointed intermediate its ends as at 30, with the pivot of its joint attached to a horizontal brace bar 20' connecting the posts 19 and arranged below the plane of the lower arms 10. Each fork 17 is thus carried by a vertically swinging arm of the bar 18 so as to be capable of occupying a raised or operative horizontal position as shown with respect to one fork 17 in Figure 1, or a lowered inoperative position as shown with respect to the other fork 17 a in said figure. Means is provided to releasably maintain each fork 17 a in either raised or lowered position, and such means preferably embodies the provision of each post 19 with a pair of spaced superposed transverse openings 31 adapted for selective reception of a supporting pin 32, whereby the pin of each post will hold the associated arm of the bar 18 raised when placed in the upper opening and prevent undue lowering of such arm when placed in the lower opening, the bar arm resting on the pin in each instance.

The present invention further contemplates a mail bag suspending bar 21 adapted to occupy a vertical position in use so as to pass between the prongs of the forks 11, 17 and 17 The bar 21 is provided at its upper end with a cross bar 22 adapted to rest upon the prongs of the fork supporting the same wl'iereby a mail bag 23 attached to the bar 21 may be effectively supported by such fork. For facilitaing detachable attachment of the mail bag to the bar 21, the lower end portion of the latter is provided With ,a longitudinal series of transversely elongated spaced slots 24 adapted for selective reception of the usual strap 25 upon the end of the mail bag.

As shown clearly in Figures 3, 5 and 6,

The forks 17 are preferably rigidly formed upon the ends of nesnass the bar 21 is tapered toward its opposite portions of the inner prongs of the forks 11, 17 and 17, ensures ready passage of the bar 21 between said prongs when'the mail bag supporting bar 21 is transferred from one fork to another during the operation of the apparatus. By reason of the enlarged form of the inner prongs of the forks, a restricted entrance is provided between the prongs which is narrower than the thickness of the bar 21 so that the bar 21 must be sprung past the enlarged free end portions of the prongs of the forks. The bar 21 is thus effectively held in place between the prongs of the forks so as to be capable of forcible removal although not capable of accidental displacement under ordinary condi tions.

Assuming that the car is running to the right'of Figure 1, the left hand mail bag si'ipporting bar 21 is initially engaged be tween the prongs of both of the forks 11 of the arms 10 mounted at the left hand side of the doorway 6. By reason of the engage mentof the bar 21 by the prongs of both of the forks 11 at this side of the doorway, the bar 21 and the attached mail bag 23 are effectively steadied and held against lateral swaying movement. In this operation'the right hand supporting bar 21 is initially engaged bet-ween prongs of the right hand fork 17 mounted beside the railway track. Upon passage of the car the left hand supporting bar 21 will pass between prongs of the-left hand forks 17 and 17 so as to be removed by the latter from the left hand forks 11. The left hand mail bag 23 is thus delivered from the train and supported by the left hand forks 17 and 17 as illustrated in Figure 1. While the above operation is taking place, the fork of the lower right hand arm 10 of the car will engage the mail bag supporting bar 21 and remove the same from the right hand fork 17, the right hand fork 17 being lowered or inoperative, as shown. Upon continued movement of the car the right hand mail bag 23 will be carried along with the car supported by the fork 11 of the lower extended arm 10 at the right hand side of the door opening 6 so that the right hand mail bag 23 is delivered to the train. This right hand mail bag may be swung into the car upon swinging the lower right hand arm'10 horizontally from its extended position to a positionwithin the car, as is apparent. It is to be understood that mail may .be delivered or received by the forks at either side of the car door, depending upon which direction of travel is taken bythe car. In any case,'only the lower arm 10 at the receiving side of the door and the upper fork 17 at the delivering side of the device mounted beside the truck will be placed in operative position while both of the arms 10 at the delivering side of the door and both forks 17 and 17 at the receiving side of the device mounted beside the track will be extended or employed for respectively supporting the mail bag to be delivered from the car and receiving such bag when delivered. It is also to be understood that the supporting bar 21 for the mail bag to be delivered from the car will be engaged with the forks of the active pair of arms 10 before the latter are swung outwardly of the car. a

From the foregoing description it is believed that the construction and operation as well as the advantages of the present invention will be'readily understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art.

Minor changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

IVh-at I claim as new is:

1. In a railway mail handling apparatus of the character set forth, a supporting frame structure designed to be placed adjacent a railway line and comprising a pair of spaced upright members and transversely extending vertically spaced cross members connecting therebetween, a mail bag handling arm comprising a straight inner portion arranged parallel with and upon one side of one of said cross members, the inner end of said inner portion being pivotally secured to the adjacent cross member, an

intermediate portion extending from the free end of said inner portion at an obtuse angle with respect to the same and an outer portion extending from the free end of said intermediate portion in offset parallel relation with the inner portion, a mail bag engaging element projecting from the free end of the outer portion of said arm, and removable means carried by an upright member designed to engage beneath the inner portion of the arm to normally maintain the same in horizontal position, said retaining means being shiftable to allow the arm to be raised or lowered as desired.

2. In a railway mail delivery apparatus, a mail bag suspending bar tapered toward its opposite longitudinal edges, and provided with means at one end for facilitating attachmen't of a mail bag thereto, and a rigid crossbar upon the other end of the mail.

HENRY A. WRIGHT. 

